It will be a race against time to repeal the current electoral roll and register every eligible voter again but it must be done. The argument in parliament on Tuesday looked at views from both sides and all views carried weight. However, there is an urgent need to do this if the elections in 2026 are free and fair.

The two main amendments in the Electoral Amendment Bill 2024 were tabled under a certificate of urgency by the Minister of Police, Faualo Harry Schuster. Faualo is also responsible for the Office of the Electoral Commission. 

Another amendment widens the scope of the online registration to cover Samoan citizens abroad to apply online but have to come to Samoa to complete the rest of the registration.

Voters’ fingerprints and photos are crucial information required for voters registering online from anywhere in the world, this would be done physically in Samoa in the new biometric system for the 2026 general election.

The electoral roll is not up to date and this cannot be changed by just registering new voters who have become eligible in the years after 2021 or will become eligible just before election day in 2026. This means that the elections could easily be open to fraud. People who have lost their lives are still listed as active voters. The new registration would allow us to deal with this issue.

Furthermore, the biometric system reduces the chances of election fraud. The chances that someone could vote under anyone else’s name are reduced to a minimum. This is something that has worried the Office of the Electoral Commissioner in every election. This is also a step forward as the election process is being modernised.

While this is going to be implemented, there is always a question of security because the servers at the OEC would hold information about all people over the age of 21 years. If this new system is to be implemented, the Electoral Commissioner needs to assure the public that everything will be done to ensure the security of the information that would be gathered.

Even the elections in the United States were not safe from hackers.

The current system is obsolete and more than 20 years old. This means that upgrades are no longer available and therefore the OEC has to walk down the path to register everyone again. This will be a challenging task and therefore the urgency pressed by the government is understandable.

The OEC needs to have its strategy outlined already and just await the approval from parliament. If that is the case, then the implementation can begin as early as next month because the first task would be to recruit more personnel who would help to carry out the massive job. This would equate to the OEC having more than a year to finish the task.

On the question of overseas voters, hopefully, the diaspora is not included in this. Only Samoans who are residents of Samoa and are away on business, medical or other important travel should be allowed to vote. The fate of the nation should not be changed by people who do not reside in the country.

Transfer of information from an old obsolete system to a new system may not be possible as they are not compatible.

It seems other changes will follow after this one is passed. Currently, a person residing in Lotopa votes for a constituency in Savaii. It seems this act is likely to be stopped and there are hints the government is moving in this direction.

In tabling the amendments, Minister Faualo Harry Schuster said the changes would ensure everyone was treated equally under the law. He pointed out that the 2019 electoral law only allowed those studying overseas and officials in diplomatic offices to register through the internet.

He said the new change would enable those living in Samoa and overseas to register online and would not impact the eligibility of voters.

Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said the changes could not be delayed because the old system no longer worked, and therefore, the need to migrate to the new system was inevitable as the Commissioner needed the law to be passed to make the transition legal.

The timeline is clear. The changes need to be made before October next year. Is the strategy ready? Are there personnel identified who would carry this task? Has the budget for this task been approved and how much is the process and the new system costing us?

Hopefully, all this will be revealed in parliament this week.